China detains, censors bloggers on 'Jasmine Revolution'

New York, February 25, 2011--China's censors tightened Internet controls and security officials harassed and detained writers and activists in the wake of an online appeal for a "Jasmine Revolution" in China, according to international human rights groups and news reports. The apparent crackdown came in advance of two top legislative meetings, the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, scheduled for March.

Censors blocked the word "jasmine" after overseas
dissident-run news website Boxun and
Chinese Twitter users broadcast calls on February 19 to mobilize street
protests modeled on recent unrest in the Middle East,
according to international news reports. (Twitter is generally blocked in China
but accessible to users of proxy networks based overseas.) Only a handful of
protesters appeared, although calls continued for government protests
characterized as "strolls" to continue every Sunday around China, according to
The Associated Press.

"Reports that Chinese police are detaining and harassing bloggers
and activists are deeply concerning," said Bob Dietz,
CPJ Asia program coordinator. "China
must allow information on political dissension to circulate freely."

Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders said
Ran Yunfei, a Sichuan-based political writer and blogger, was taken by police
on February 20 and formally detained on suspicion of "subversion of state
power" on February 24, according to an official notice sent to his wife. Other
overseas groups said police detained Ran on February 20. CPJ could not
independently confirm the nature of the charges. Hong Kong University-based
China Media Project reported Thursday
that Ran had been charged with the less serious "inciting subversion of state
power," citing local online reports.

Conflicting information was available about other detentions,
which included lawyers and democracy activists, according to the groups and
international news reports. At least two others were detained after transmitting
information about the Jasmine Revolution online, according to overseas rights
groups:

Chinese Human Rights Defenders said police in Harbin
detained Liang Haiyi on February 19 and formally arrested her on suspicion of
"subversion of state power" on February 21. The Independent Chinese PEN Center reported
her name as Jiang Haiyi and identified her as a "netizen" or Internet user. The
center said she was suspected of "inciting subversion." "She only reposted
someone else's writings on the Chinese Internet," a lawyer familiar with the
case told AP.

The Independent Chinese PEN Center and the New York-based Human
Rights in China said Jiangsu police detained Hua Chunhui on February 21 on
suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power." Chinese Human Rights
Defenders said Hua was an insurance manager who had transmitted details of the
Jasmine Revolution using his Twitter account.

Other writers were harassed and reported heavy surveillance.
Shanghai-based writer and activist Feng
Zhenghu said police were guarding his house and turning back visitors
saying, "Today is a sensitive day," in a Tuesday update
to his Twitter account. Feng has been harassed in the past for publishing a
bulletin on human rights abuses.

Business networking platform LinkedIn said it had been
blocked in parts of China
after a user discussed the jasmine revolution in a forum, according to the BBC. Internet
censorship traditionally tightens before annual sessions of the National
People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
are held in Beijing, according to CPJ research,
as well as during sensitive political
unrest.

The severity of the crackdown contrasted with the largely
irreverent tone of the online debate. "The thing about this 'Jasmine Revolution'
performance art, taking it seriously was bound to fail. But authorities did," one
Twitter post said, according to a Global
Voices Online translation. "This weekend's banned word list contains
things like 'plum blossom revolution,' 'peony revolution,' 'azalea revolution,'
'sunflower seed coup,'" another read. Chinese bloggers often adopt informal code
words to refer to banned content, according to CPJ research.